First 1000km service ... and a real shock

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anyone being charged more than 45 minutes labour + parts is being ripped off (and even that's a rip off).

Here's what they do
- remove fairings
- drain oil
- watch the oil drain
- keep watching the oil drain
- change the filer and fill with oil
- touch and play with levers
- tighten chain and spray blast it with more lube than a porn star needs
- takes another 10 minutes to take it off the lift
- make you feel like spending $130 + for a first service was worth it

then there are the shops will clean and wash the bike for you, removing most or all of the new lube from the chain.
 
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Pretty sure it's just not Honda.... kawi 250 and 650 also stated in their maintenance manuals that a "valve inspection" is part of the 1,000km maintenance. I am assuming this is a chance for the owners to let the dealership know of anything they are not happy with and get them to do the fix free of charge (I had some minor problems with my previous 250 at that time and didn't have to pay for the fixes). I did have to pay for the 1,000km maintenance job, which ran for about $179 on the invoice.

There should never be any surprises with how much you need to pay for the job. If they can't give you a quote in writing, go to another shop. Makes you wonder if they can't price it out for you, do they even know what they need to do with your bike?
 
Most new bikes maintenance manuals call for 1K valve clearance check. I'd say break her in properly first and have it checked after 4K or something like that, when the bike was meaningfully run. I have not heard of many modern bikes who actually required valve clearance adjustment that early .... it's just advertising for the dealerships to get some work done.
 
EC2010 said:
Pretty sure it's just not Honda.... kawi 250 and 650 also stated in their maintenance manuals that a "valve inspection" is part of the 1,000km maintenance. I am assuming this is a chance for the owners to let the dealership know of anything they are not happy with and get them to do the fix free of charge (I had some minor problems with my previous 250 at that time and didn't have to pay for the fixes). I did have to pay for the 1,000km maintenance job, which ran for about $179 on the invoice.

There should never be any surprises with how much you need to pay for the job. If they can't give you a quote in writing, go to another shop. Makes you wonder if they can't price it out for you, do they even know what they need to do with your bike?
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Are you sure? I checked the owners manual of my ninja 250 and it says the first "valve clearance - inspect" is at 12000km. I do know the pre-gren recommended having it checked at 1k though...
 
koma said:
Are you sure? I checked the owners manual of my ninja 250 and it says the first "valve clearance - inspect" is at 12000km. I do know the pre-gren recommended having it checked at 1k though...
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The 2012 indicates 12,000. Earlier models (carb) show first service. At least that's what I got from checking owner's manuals.
 
I just started asking around about the first service for the Vstrom I picked up today. Both quotes so far where nearing $300, and the Vstrom manual isn't suggesting a valve clearance check until 24000km.

I think for $300 I can change the oil, tighten and lube the chain, and check for any loose bolts.

In fact, all the manual recommends at first service is:
Inspect: throttle cable play, drive chain, brakes, steering
Tighten: exhaust and muffler bolts, chassis bolts and nuts
Replace: Oil, filter

That's it! That's all they will probably do and they want $300 for that?!
 
cb500f said:
the valve clearance is the labour intensive part ... hopefully not too bad ...
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The valves should not need checking until 20-25000 km's dude! Look in your owners manual, it say's so right there. Take it to the shop and show them while asking them what the hell they are thinking doing the valves on a brand new bike......crazy..

Edit; Well I just read the manual and it does say that valves need checking at first service. IMO that should be checked at assembly or manufacturing, I guess they don't trust their process eh!

My bikes have always needed valves checked around 20000 k.
 
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My Suzuki TU250X also says valve check at 1000 km. I'll attempt to do it myself though rather than paying $300 because I don't have the money to be honest. I have a torque wrench and I can buy a set of feeler gauges. I don't really anticipate any problem with the valves though but it's not unheard of for small adjustments here and there on the intake or exhaust. At least my bike was actually built in Japan as opposed to Thailand or somewhere else.
 
mxs said:
Most new bikes maintenance manuals call for 1K valve clearance check. I'd say break her in properly first and have it checked after 4K or something like that, when the bike was meaningfully run. I have not heard of many modern bikes who actually required valve clearance adjustment that early .... it's just advertising for the dealerships to get some work done.
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Wrong
This stopped being the case 20 years ago.
 
I got my cbr500r's first service done 2 weeks ago at the dealer was about 270, i asked to get the actual numbers on all the valves they said they would provide that information and did not i got a check box ticked off saying my valves were checked.

they said everything was in spec and i had nothing to worry about (except if they didnt actually take it apart and i paid them to do so!)
 
After 51,000 km of riding all around the continent in two years, I finally got around to checking my valves on my 2010 GSXR 600 for their first inspection, with a couple of competent friends.

Intakes are all worn evenly. Normal Range is 0.08-0.18, and they're all (all 8 of them) in the middle of the range, at 0.13
Exhausts are also all worn evenly. Normal Range is 0.18-0.28, and all 8 are just at 0.17 (and yes, I will be changing the shims out). I've been told it's normal for exhaust side shims to wear out sooner, for some reason or another.

If a bike requires a valve check at 1,000 km, it's not a bike that's going to last very long.

I asked a local shop in Mississauga if it was necessary to have them checked at 24,000 km, as the manual says, the mechanic told me that it would be a waste of my money and his time and that I should come back at the end of the next service cycle (~48,000 km or so). I am glad I listened to him about that.
 
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I read the purpose of an early check is to have a baseline number to tell if stuff is wearing and how fast so you can catch a problem early rather than later. Makes sense to me but principle is defeated if they aren't being checked.
 
I am surprised at how many people keep saying "valve adjustment at first service is not needed".
Even when the manual has already been posted.

Does anyone read anything other than the initial post?



:p
 
viper84737 said:
After 51,000 km of riding all around the continent in two years, I finally got around to checking my valves on my 2010 GSXR 600 for their first inspection, with a couple of competent friends.

Intakes are all worn evenly. Normal Range is 0.08-0.18, and they're all (all 8 of them) in the middle of the range, at 0.13
Exhausts are also all worn evenly. Normal Range is 0.18-0.28, and all 8 are just at 0.17 (and yes, I will be changing the shims out). I've been told it's normal for exhaust side shims to wear out sooner, for some reason or another.

If a bike requires a valve check at 1,000 km, it's not a bike that's going to last very long.

I asked a local shop in Mississauga if it was necessary to have them checked at 24,000 km, as the manual says, the mechanic told me that it would be a waste of my money and his time and that I should come back at the end of the next service cycle (~48,000 km or so). I am glad I listened to him about that.
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The valves on my 04 zx10 and my 07 gsxr 600 were all out of spec at 24,000 for the zx10 and 20,000 for the gsxr. Iit's not the schims that wear either.
 
Sunspark said:
I read the purpose of an early check is to have a baseline number to tell if stuff is wearing and how fast so you can catch a problem early rather than later. Makes sense to me but principle is defeated if they aren't being checked.
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You also don't know how they've been set from the factory, mistakes happen.
 
I decided to take my Vstrom back home to Ready Suzuki for it's first service.

Despite the sales guy saying it would be $200+, it actually came out to be $117 including taxes as the Vstrom doesn't require a valve check at 1000km.

From now on I will be doing the maintenance myself, but I decided to get the first service done for two reasons:
1) to have another set of eyes inspect the bike before I attempt the long trip to James Bay in a few weeks.
2) to avoid any hassles if I have a warranty issue.
 
Diesel said:
I decided to take my Vstrom back home to Ready Suzuki for it's first service.

Despite the sales guy saying it would be $200+, it actually came out to be $117 including taxes as the Vstrom doesn't require a valve check at 1000km.

From now on I will be doing the maintenance myself, but I decided to get the first service done for two reasons:
1) to have another set of eyes inspect the bike before I attempt the long trip to James Bay in a few weeks.
2) to avoid any hassles if I have a warranty issue.
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Exactly the same. I just wanted them to do the first one. Now I do everything myself. :thumbup:
 
Cost of my 1,000 km service? Free.
Courtesy of GP Bikes, Whitby.
 
viper84737 said:
I asked a local shop in Mississauga if it was necessary to have them checked at 24,000 km, as the manual says, the mechanic told me that it would be a waste of my money and his time and that I should come back at the end of the next service cycle (~48,000 km or so). I am glad I listened to him about that.
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not true. the first one is critical. they will need adjustment at that 20k mark. and perhaps a few valves the next time around.

I've had to swap motors with bent valves at 40k that never had valves done, one was quite bad. But also worked on motors with 60k that ran fine, but about 9/10 valve needed to be shimmed.

Check them as per manual, there is a reason why it says to check at certain intervals. If you aren't your just risking it.
 
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